They called this farmer the "Maori Miracle Man"

Taken from the 8 o'clock Newspaper April 27, 1974 They looked like war refugees fleeing to safety hundreds of Maoris carrying their possessions. Other came by bus taxi or train all headed for the Whangahu near the coast. All were eager to see the Maori Miracle Man. Word had reached them quickly. God had given farmer Tahu Potiki Wiremu Ratana special powers to cure the spirits and bodies of the people. And Ratana was doing just that ever since the dramatic vision he reported to have on Nov 18 1918.

Almost every week the local newspapers carried stories of the miraculous healing by Ratana. So as 3000 people began assembling at the Ratana farmhouse on Xmas day 1920, for the opening for the church built with Ratana’s own money, hearts were expected. In a service lasting 4 hours Ratana told the people they must believe in the holy trinity and cleanliness of the body and they must reject Maori superstitions. In the eyes of his followers, Bill Ratana was certainly a Prophet, Gods chosen one. In the eyes of others he was a curious enigma a man with two characters. In his private life and sometimes in public he did not always project the popular image of a spiritual leader. While he repeatedly condemned the use of liquor, he drank himself, excessively at times, and he smoked.

Often he drove to a hotel at nearby turekina his Car full of children who amused themselves while he went in for an hour or two. When he emerged he gave them icecreams and told them to keep quiet from where they had been. Other times he went on drinking bouts, in Martin and Whanganui, always, he said later , he was entirely human and not divine. Once when a plane landed at the Pa which sprang up around his farmhouse, Ratana went up in it and waved liquor bottles at the crowd watching below. Then he dropped them, signifying liquor should be cast away. Another time he drank a bottle of whiskey in public and then , tossing the bottle away, announced:

Now that the devil and I , Mangai, have taken him inside myself so you will not be harmed. TW Ratana on Jan 5 1873 into a family that had been pro British during the Maori wars. Two of his forebears had signed the Treaty of Waitangi. His parents were Church of England and Methodist Adherence but much of his religious training came from missionaries and from his aunt who had formed a holy ghost mission to fight superstition. Several times she prophesied young Bill would receive a sign from God signifying he was a Maori spiritual leader.

He left school at standard 4 to work on the land. According to legend he was impulsive and then lead a wild life. He rode horse hard, played football hard and drank hard. But he also became well known as the districts top plowman and wheat stacker. At 27 he married Urumanao Ngapaki, a part European of Patea, who was to bear him 13 children and who proved to be steady influence on him.

One day while plowing the field Ratana thought he heard voice speaking to him but always on his constant visits to his aunt he was exhorted to pray and wait for the sign. The sign came on March 17 1918 Ratana who was 45 at the time his wife and 2 of his sons were camping on the beach when the boiling sea threw two whales onto the beach. One died instantly the other bled and struggled for some time indicating that Ratana was to be a fisher of men with both a political and spiritual mission that would involve some struggles.

Two other events later that year were to confirm his calling. The healing of a son who had suffered a mysterious leg injury, Ratana prayed for three days and nights in achieving this cure. Legend has it that on Nov 8 while Ratana gazed out to sea he saw a small cloud rise, enlarge, rush towards him and swirl about him. Amidst of the cloud a voice told Ratana he was to be the mouthpiece of God in the land and that he was to unite the Maori people. When Ratana told him of the vision, they thought he was mad or drunk. But Ratana is said to have later seen an angel at the farmhouse window repeating the message.

Photograph Copyright Rangi Parker, Kia Ngawari Trust, 10 Goodwin Tce, Temple View, Hamilton, Ph 07 847 1884

According to legend Ratana reacted to the vision by throwing all liquor out of the house and smashing the telephone over which he had , it is said, operated as the local bookmaker. Word spread quickly and soon scores of Maori bringing tents and even their demolished homes, moved to the Ratana farm where a shanty township sprang up much to the indignation of the local authorities.

Ratana spent hours over his bible, occasionally talking to the people from the farmhouse verandah. Often to escape the adulation of the people he wandered the countryside at night, sometimes hurting himself through blackberry bushed , barbwire fences and even gorse to return bleeding early in the morning. As his fame spread and more and more of his followers settle on what was to become the Ratana Pa he gave up farming and his night roaming to take up his ministry full time. After every healing he asked his patient to sign a covenant affirming faith in the trinity and renouncing all Maori superstition.

Later Ratana expanded the covenant to include belief in the protection of the faithful angels. This act eventually alienated Ratana and his followers from recognized Churches. Ratana, believing his mission was exclusively to the Maori people, resolutely kept Europeans out of his meetings. He even barred journalists from entering the Pa to interview him or to record the happenings. And when Europeans wrote to him for treatment, he told his advisers to return the money or place the uncashed checks on a huge calico sheet to prove he took no bribes. But while Ratana remained unaffected by popularity and fame some of the men who formed his inner circle of advisers sought to turn their own status to advantages. They wanted to show their new found influence in their home areas , so they persuaded Ratana to go on Tour at Morrinsville. 2400 Maori gathered for an Easter service and 150 cures were reported. The Ratana went to the East Coast from there to Tauranga, Whakatane, Rotorua, Auckland, Helensville, Kaikohe,

The Bay of Islands and Te Kaeo Then it was down to Littleton with visits later to Blenheim, Motueka, and . On all these visits, Ratana overcame tribal hostility. And that many places he described many Tapu spots to destroy Maori Myths and persuade followers to sign the covenant. Ratana’s tour undoubtedly had been successful.. It was followed by a great Christmas meeting at the Pa and the evolution of the movement that was to break from the rest of Maoridom.

The break from the main churches followed too. When Ratana evolved his doctrine of the faithful angles giving them almost equal status alongside the trinity, The Church of England and Methodists Church grew suspicious of his movement. Even the traditional leaders of Maori opinion and politics refused to sign the covenant. This conflict was to doom Ratana’s dreams of national unity.

For a week the people at the Pa debated the controversial Doctrine and then Ratana who had earlier agreed with the churches with some compromise and noticed the division amongst his followers declared "We must go our own ways" It was not just in religious matters that the Ratana movement went its own way.

Over the next few years it established a school a welfare association, a wheat farm, and an investment society. But some of these schemes collapsed when a committee took over control of the Ratana Church the maori leader took up the demands of some Maoris for restoration of land and citizenship rights. Ratana’s plans to make the legislation more effective was a bold one, he would go to England to see the King. With an entourage of at least 40 including an orchestra he boarded a liner and set off. At every port of call they entertained crowds but in London, Ratana found the NZ High Commissioner, acting on instructions from the NZ government, would not arrange an audience with either the King or Prime Minister. Frustrated Ratana stood on the Westminster bridge and made a prophecy which it was said predicted the coming of the Luftwaffe to London and the election of the Labor governments in both England and NZ. In the years that followed

Ratana visits to the UNITED STATES INSPIRING THE BUILDING OF THE Ratana temple and a Pa at Te Poi near Matamata and develop links with the Labour Party. Enabling the party to pass acts favorable to the maori people. All this was to eventually take its toll. After the winter of 1939 Ratana remained in bed weakened. Perhaps he sensed he was dying. For the last weeks of his life. Many of his his conversations were recorded finally at 10Am Sept18 he had died. At the height of his fame 600 people made their homes at the Ratana Pa and the movement numbered about 25000. Today 300 still live there and their movement remains very much alive.